


And Then There Was None.

by Scoobycool9



Series: The Price We Pay [1]
Category: Shazam! (2019)
Genre: Angst with a sad ending, Gen, Heavy Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 01:39:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18561334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scoobycool9/pseuds/Scoobycool9
Summary: Billy Batson was dead.





	And Then There Was None.

** And Then There Was None **

Billy Batson was dead.

And it was Freddy Freeman’s  fault.   

Of course, before he realized the consequences of his idea, he wouldn’t have believed that he was the one who would kill Billy. He always expected it to be some supervillain that killed Billy. But he hadn’t considered that it was possibly to kill Billy without killing his super hero persona. 

So, when Billy had been brought into the hospital after he had been in a car crash with Mary  (who had been okay since they had rammed the passenger seat side that Billy had been in and she had gotten lucky to come out with a few scars), Freddy was terrified. 

He hated the beeping of the monitors that basically told him that Billy was alive. Not when he looked so small and weak. Not when they had him on the ventilation system. Oh god, he looked like he was dying. Freddy would just sit there, day after day, minute after minute. Sure, he would eat and much to his chagrin, go to school, but nothing felt right.

Hell, even fighting minor criminals with the rest of the siblings felt wrong, like they were betraying Billy.  He knew that Billy would want them to protect the city, but his heart wasn’t in it. 

After about a month or two of Billy being in the hospital, Freddy was worried that he wouldn’t die there. Alone. He started to cut class and visit the hospital, sometimes as himself and other times as “Jack”, Billy’s math tutor. He wore a trench coat to hide the suit and when asked how come they didn’t know Billy had a math tutor; he would just pull out a confidential note he had doctored to make it look like a secret. 

At about the third month, he saw Billy open his eyes. “Freddy, what happened?” He asked him. The teenager could say that it was a struggle to speak. Oh god, he had never even considered the fact that Billy would be stuck to these machines. 

Freddy looked down at the floor. “Billy, you were in a car crash with Mary. You’ve been in a coma for the past three months and it’s been so hard. But now, it’s better. Oh, yeah, I nearly forgot, Mary is okay.” 

Billy looked over at the machines and Freddy could see it. He knew that he was going to be stuck like this. He hadn’t even considered how the other boy would feel until now, so focused on his own grief for Billy not waking up. “Freddy, this isn’t living. I don’t want to live like this- it would be so much better if I was dead. And I know you may not agree with me, but it isn’t like I can- why are you smiling?” He asked.

Freddy didn’t miss a beat. “What if you don’t have to, Billy? When I become a super hero, I can walk, just turn into him.” 

Billy looked over at Freddy. “But if I do that, could I ever be Billy again?” He asked.

Freddy looked up. “I’m sure you could. I’d never told you this, but I feel my leg get a little better after each transformation. I don’t think it will ever fully heal, but I might be able to walk with it again, give or take a few years of being him. So, you know, being Shazam more often, your body might work. Though, this is extreme. Let me record the transformation- in case something goes wrong so we can show Rosa and Victor.” 

He hoped that Billy didn’t notice him mentioning the something going wrong. He hit the record button. “Shazam,” Billy whispered. It was enough for the lightning to come and strike him into Shazam. “I think it worked, Freddy. I feel better, let me change back now. Shazam.” 

Nothing happened.

 “Shazam.” 

Nothing happened still. 

“Shazam.” 

Freddy’s heart sunk. Oh god, why couldn’t Billy turn back? “Maybe you need to scream it, Billy. Scream it to the heavens.” 

“SHAZAM .” 

Nothing happened. No lightning, no transforming back. Oh god, Freddy came to a slow realization.

Billy Batson was dead.

And it was all his fault. 

Only Shazam remained. 

He had killed his only friend- the one who made him feel like he belonged.

All that was left was the hero, the man who could literally save the world. 

But the foster kid, the one who he had helped to find his mother, the one who had come to lunch, the one who had made him feel less alone.

He was dead.

Even if there was a way to make him turn back, it wouldn’t be the same Billy.

Not in the way that mattered.

Everything started to blur for Freddy. And even though he managed to have the video and explain everything, even when he realized that Billy could stay with them as long as he made some money (he worked at the carnival), it never felt quite right. Even on patrol, there was this distance he felt.

The connection they shared was gone. There were no more sharing secrets at school, no more secret glances or handshakes. He was just a person. At a certain point, around a year or two of Shazam being around, he tried to get him to say his name.

It still did nothing. 

Even though his leg was getting better like he said, it didn’t feel right to be seen with Shazam. 

And that was the other thing that Freddy had realized. Shazam was now a person.... and all it took was for Billy to die.  

Yes, there was a point when Billy and Shazam had been two people that he loved to brag about knowing the hero, but now...he couldn’t help but feel their relationship was hollow.

Billy Batson was dead.

Shazam was alive.

It was all Mary’s fault.

And at some points, he wished it was the other way around. For, he missed Billy more than he ever cared to admit.  Some nights he cried himself to sleep and not even Shazam Billy coming up to ask him what was wrong helped him.

Because without his alter ego, he wasn’t Billy.

There used to be two people he cared about, Billy and Shazam.

There for a short period, there was one.

And then there was none.

Billy Batson was dead.

Shazam was alive. 

It was all his fault.


End file.
